Despite Losses, Pinney Sees Talent In Hampton Bays All-Stars

Things may not have worked out the way he would have liked, with his Hampton Bays 10-, 11- and 12-year-old Majors All-Stars losing all five of their games in the week-plus-long District 36 Tournament, but manager Robert Pinney sees hope on the horizon.

Pinney, the Hampton Bays School District’s varsity baseball head coach, volunteered to manage in the hamlet’s Little League this season to not only gauge interest in the sport, but to help keep it going, and he sees there is certainly talent there.

“It’s a good core of guys,” he said. “If they stick together, by the time they get to the JV, varsity level, they could be pretty good together. Of the 13 of them, 11 were sixth-graders, so middle school baseball should be good.”

This year’s Major All-Stars included Julian Aldrich, Connor Bullinger, Sean Donahue, Liam Fitzgerald, John Georges, Brett Gubitosi, James Hillen, Rocco LaFazia, Daniel Pimenta, Matheus Ribeiro, Henry Rose, Michael Single and Eli Spellman. Pinney was aided by fellow coaches Pat Donahue and Ian Fitzgerald.

Pinney said his team’s best game, by far, was what ended up being a tough 7-6 loss to neighboring Southampton Little League at Red Creek Park on June 28, the second game of the pool play formatted tournament that ultimately leads to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Michael Single hit a home run over the fence that gave Hampton Bays a one-run lead in the fifth inning, but Southampton tied it in the sixth to force extra innings where it scored a run to win the game. Pinney said Single was basically the team’s Most Valuable Player of the tournament, hitting an additional home run and a double off the fence. He was the team’s starting catcher and also helped out when needed on the pitcher’s mound.

The Major All-Stars was the only team entered by Hampton Bays Little League into this year’s District 36 Tournament, which also includes 8-, 9- and 10-year-old Minors baseball as well as softball divisions in the same age groups.

Pinney remembers playing in Hampton Bays Little League himself when there were about seven teams in each division. He said there were only two teams in the Majors Division this season, which forced the league to reach out to neighboring East End Little League to add some additional games. There were only three in-house teams in the minors and softball has seen a little resurgence with a few teams back after not having any girls in recent years.

Part of Pinney’s reason for volunteering is to help out with those low numbers. He said at the annual Hampton Bays baseball camp a few weeks ago, there were 65 kids, and he plans to continue to work on those numbers.